There are written accounts of using glass for magnifying purposes dating back thousands of years. However, it was not until the end of the late 13th century that the first pair of eyeglasses were have purported to be constructed in Europe. Since then, eyeglasses have become more than a way to correct vision, as they are widely used in fashion and take many forms including safety glasses and sunglasses.
Modern eyeglasses typically have two lenses supported by a frame. The lenses can be a variety of different materials depending on the intended use. These may include glasses or plastics. The frames may be any combination of metal, plastic, wood, stone, shell, horn, and the like. The frame has a bridge connecting the two lenses with pads to comfort and protect the user. The frame also usually has two temple arms extending from each side of the glasses. The temple arms fit over the ears of the wearer and help to prevent the glasses from falling off or shifting during wear.
One issue glasses wearers' face is the inconvenient storage/transportation of their glasses, as not everybody wears their glasses constantly. Many people only need their glasses for a specific function (i.e. reading). Thus, they need to keep their glasses safely stowed away when not in use. Many will use a case that can be soft or hard in order to help protect the glasses. This means the case must remain with the person at all times, or they won't have a place to keep their glasses. Additionally, the cases take up space which can be conserved for other items.
Another issue is the limited functionality of the glasses. They assist in helping individuals see the world around them more clearly, but perform only that one intended function. It is desirable to have glasses that can prove useful in more than one function thereby limiting the need for carrying other alternatives.
Review of Related Technology:
U.S. Pat. No. 7,905,591 pertains to an overall apparatus assembly that provides folding reading glasses, survival series wherein the glasses fold into a jewelry shape hung from a necklace. The overall apparatus assembly further provides a hinged nose portion that allows the eyeglass lenses to fold inward in a quick snap action about the hinged nose. The temples also fold inward and serve as the encase thus protecting the lenses rotating about a second quick action hinge. The spring loaded hinges will provide for cam action to lock the glasses in either an open or closed position. The closed position will further protect the eyeglass lenses and provide a decorative jewelry shaped integral encasement to store the eyeglass apparatus and protect the lenses.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,637,610 pertains to folding eyeglasses with a multifunction carrying case. The folding eyeglasses maybe any type of glasses such as reading glasses, sun glasses, and/or prescription glasses. Preferably, the glasses fold at the bridge of the nose and on each temple. Once folded, the glasses may be placed inside the multifunction carrying case. The carrying case includes a retractable pen and/or a light. The pen may be exposed and/or retracted in any suitable manner. For example, the pen may be spring-loaded and a button may be pushed to expose the pen. In such an instance, the pen may be retracted by pushing it back into the carrying case, thereby resetting the spring. The light may use any suitable light source. For example, the light may use one or more white and/or colored light emitting diodes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,966 pertains to foldable glasses having telescoping temples and central pivoting bridge. The temples are shown with three or four telescoping elements. The four element temple has a distal element that is preformed from material that has a memory which when extended curves around the ear of the user and when the elements are telescoped together can be straightened for inserting in the adjacent straight telescopic element. Two bridge pivoting embodiments are shown, one has an angled pivot pin and the other has a spring biased pivotal section wherein the adjacent pivotal elements are vertically and horizontally translatable against the spring bias when the frame elements are folded for non-use.
Thus, there needs to be a device that is easily storable and compact along with having a multipurpose functionality. The current invention addresses and exceeds these needs by providing a pair of eyeglasses that can be folded for storage or to serve as a hand held magnifier. In turn, various devices are known in the art, however, their structure and means of operation are substantially different from the present disclosure. The eyeglasses cannot be folded to serve as a hand held magnifier, and their structure therefore differs from that of the current invention. As such, the other inventions fail to solve all the problems taught by the present disclosure. At least one embodiment of this invention is presented in the drawings below and will be described in more detail herein.